NET - Make the most of Linkedin! (part 3: contact requests)

NET - Make the most of Linkedin! (part 1: build your profile)
NET - Make the most of Linkedin! (part 2: grow your network)
NET - Make the most of Linkedin! (part 3: contact requests)
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As far as I am concerned, Linkedin is the best tool for business networking. It is simple to use, intuitive and the quality of its members is impressive.

Contact requests on Linkedin
Please find below a couple of comments and remarks I wanted to cover today regaring the contact requests on Linkedin.

Privacy / conflict of interest
Social networking revolutionalized the recruitment industry: Linkedin, openbc or Viaduc are goldmines for Head Hunters... And interesting indicators for Managers!

Head hunters
If you think about it, there is a slight problem of impartiality when you send a request on Linkedin: imagine one of your contacts, a head hunter, who wants to get in touch with a person 2 degres away from you. The person you have in common is another head hunter... What is going to happen?

Managers
You are not happy with your job, and you are looking elsewhere: you found the perfect contact at a competitor and you decided yo send a contact request... one of your senior executives is the only way through John Smith on Linkedin, and you are not aware of that...

My advice: keep sending contact requests, but do it smartly!

Mega-networkers: hub or bottle neck?
This is the reason why I am not in favour of quantity/volume, but more quality, especially on Linkedin.
With several thousands connections, you are very likely to be part of the chain of contacts to reach dozen of thousands of people...

So, the more contacts, the more requests: except if you have someone who works for you and is dedicated to answering those requests, or if you are wealthy and love spending your day forwarding requests, it is a big issue and this is the cause of delay or unsuccessul requests!

If you are looking for quantity, please do that on other networks such as ecademy or ryze!

Check the original request!
I have the feeling that most linkedin users don't check the original request!
As a routine, please make sure to check the request from the sender: as far as I am concerned, I don't forward requests with the wrong name (!), or without focus.

Don't forget the original concept of Linkedin: bring value to the request!
I receive a lot of request from my contacts who forward requests saying "hi, could you please forward this request?"... That is not what I expect on Linkedin: tell me more about the sender, how well do you know her/him, how professional she/he is, why I should forward the request to my contacts... 
The idea is to create trust.

Don't send too many requests via the same person!
It is critical to manage your network efficiently. Don't ask too much, don't send requests too often and make sure not to send your requests through the same people!

Examples
Please find below some contact requests I received from members on openbc, Linkedin, Ecademy and Viaduc.

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"Hi! Sir,
Could you please add me to your contact list?
Have a nice day!
Cheers,
John Smith"

"Hi Cristophe, Can we connect and network Rgds John Smith"

"Hi Christophe.. Let's connect !!"

I am always very disapointed when I receive those emails from Thomas P...
"You're someone I'd like to stay in touch and up to date with so I'm
inviting you to join my professional network on Ecademy.
Ecademy helps me build trusted relationships, opportunities and support
for my business:
http://www.ecademy.com/account.php?id=8&xref=8
Regards,
--
Thomas Power thomas.power@ecademy.com"

And in French!
"Offrant et cherchant comme vous à élargir le cercle de mes contacts professionnels, je vous propose de mutualiser nos réseaux respectifs. Cordialement"

The following message is better (we are both member of the same group), but as we never met it needs more customization...
"Christophe,
I'm using LinkedIn to keep up with my professional contacts and help them with introductions.
By linking both PWN and Linked-in networks, I inscrease the opportunities to find good business contacts, and help you to find some more : It would be great if you could join my personal network.
Let's stay in touch.
Kind regards, "
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Why should I connect with them?
Think about it, think about the human factor!
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Technorati: businessnetworking, socialnetworking, linkedin